MCCTC cadet firefighters take on extreme training exercise

CANFIELD

Most of us can turn off a faucet. But try turning it off when there’s a raging fire generating temperatures of hundreds of degrees over your head.

Cadets in the firefighter program at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center had to do that Tuesday as they practiced how to fight a gas fire.

AmeriGas donated about 1,000 pounds of liquefied petroleum gas, which was set afire in the exercise and towered several feet into the air. Teams of five firefighters would then approach the gas fire wielding two hoses on full throttle and walk right up to the flames.

When they got close enough, one of them would kneel on the ground and turn the shutoff valve.

Dominic Reinthaler, one of the cadets, said it took a few seconds to get used to the heat.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Reinthaler said.

He said it seemed to take forever when it was his turn to kneel down and turn off the gas. He said the No. 1 thought going through his mind was, “When is this going to stop turning?”

Read more about this rare training exercise in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.